A few pointers please...

W

Wandering bullet

First time out of the vault
Hi everybody, My names Damien I'm from Northern Ireland and I'm a big fan of F:NV! I've been playing for a while now and I'm around level 26 I think and I was hoping to get a few general tips on how to proceed.

Should I get the DLC's before going to the battle at hoover dam? I've heard the DLC's raise the level cap to 50, is that correct? I've completed quite a few of the missions main and side, but I'm not sure which faction to side with or how to do it. If i complete 'don't tred on the bear' does that mean i shun Mr House? Or if I complete 'the house always wins' questlines does that mean the NCR will shoot me on sight? I'd like an outcome where i please both House and NCR, is that possible?

I have many other questions but I'm hoping to open up a bit of discussion regarding this just to help me out. I'll continue reading the previous threads to gain a better insight but any of your comments would be most helpful!

cheers everybody.
 
Well, if you do the battle at Hoover Dam the game ends. So you must do the DLCs before.

As far as I know, pleasing both House and the NCR is not possible.
 
I'm watching a couple of ultimate edition NV games on Ebay, so I plan to have the DLC sometime this week. Ok thanks for the reply, I'm going to have a look around and find some more quests to do as I'm just not ready to end the game yet! Am I right in thinking that the level cap is set to 30 as standard?
 
Yep.
If you want, I can send you some really small mod which removes level cap completely.
And it's really great, considering that there is enough exp in-game to achieve 70+ level.
 
There's no pleasing both House and the NCR, and, as a matter of fact, there's unfortunately no way to side with anyone aside from House without having to do some pretty nasty things to House and his plans. It is entirely possible to work for him (or Yes Man) without pissing NCR off, at least-- you'll retain your reputation with them, you just won't get to advance any further in their storyline. They'll only attack you if you work for Caesar or gain massive amounts of NCR infamy (usually by killing their troops).

As to the DLC themselves, they're all a very different experience from the core game, but they're enjoyable in their own right. I'd recommend completing Honest Hearts or Dead Money first, Old World Blues third, and Lonesome Road last to get the best possible narrative experience from them, but opinions there vary.
 
Yeeeeeeeeeah, I was going to suggest a few mods that LIMIT the Level Cap, rather than lift it, but if you're playing on the PS3 then..... well, Godspeed!

Yes, by default the Level Cap is 30, and every DLC (excluding GRA and the Preorder Bundle) increases the cap by 5, leading to a maximum level of 50. But the game should really be beaten well before then, and practically speaking completing it at 30-35 still leaves you with a real badass of a Courier. Not absurdly Godlike as the Lone Wanderer, but still quite a force to be reckoned with. So why even bother with another 15 levels beyond that?

I gotta second Yamu's recommendation of proceeding through the DLCs in the order suggested of Honest Hearts, then Dead Money, then Old World Blues, then Lonesome Road. That leads to the best increase in narrative (and difficulty) from one to the next where the end of Honest Hearts just leaves you feeling like you helped some people out but otherwise impacted the goings on of the Mojave barely at all, to learning much more about the dark secrets and questions left unanswered by the rest of the game proper once you complete Old World Blues, to a truly world-shattering revelation by the time you complete Lonesome Road. Don't rush to finish them straight off the bat, because some of the impact and satisfaction from the DLCs' associated revelations is what you learn while playing the core game. Questions like "Who IS x?" and "What happened when z?" If you have a completionist streak and you want to obtain every Trophy, I'd highly suggest you not bother with the GRA Challenges at first, as many of the more easily tackled Challenges require a convoluted approach to progressing through the game, and when you're "planning out your next steps" just to get a Challenge ticked off, you're actively killing your RP experience. You can either work towards them after replaying the game, or just make a save after getting started that you can reload later and then begin those endeavors.

No, there's no real way to pick a side while satisfying another side. Each of the 4 possible ending choices is mutually exclusive, and every one of them leaves the other 3 unhappy with your decision. The NCR, as mentioned above, simply won't be openly hostile to you unless you've been openly hostile to them, and only siding with Caesar results in this without exception. If you don't like killing or otherwise "removing" House, there's no choice to leave him be unless you side with House. All of the 4 ending choices are All-or-Nothing in terms of allegiance, so you need to prepare for that before you reach the point of no return (you'll know when you reach it).
 
Thanks for the replies everybody. I'm still undecided as to which path to choose but I'll probably go with House. After all if the game ends after the final battle then it hardly matters right? But if I choose house to I have to battle both NCR and Caesar at the Dam? And will I be fighting along side securitons?

I'm expecting my ultimate edition to arrive in the next few days, until then I'm just wandering around discovering locations and trying to do whatever quests I can find. I ranked up to level 29 last night and encountered my first deathclaws at quarry junction. Thankfully I had Annabelle in my inventory so I made short work of them.

Even though I'm level 29 I still have quite a few perks I want to raise. Along with the S.P.E.C.I.A.L attributes. Eg, I want my lockpick and guns to 100. Is there a way to speed those perks up without leveling up, as in skyrim where you can pay people to 'teach' you things?

Sorry for all the questions I'm not trying to take all the fun out of it for myself but can anyone tell me a dependable method for removing Rads?

Thanks guys!!
 
Wandering bullet said:
If i complete 'don't tred on the bear' does that mean i shun Mr House? Or if I complete 'the house always wins' questlines does that mean the NCR will shoot me on sight? I'd like an outcome where i please both House and NCR, is that possible?
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"Don't Tread on the Bear!" is a basically a warning that you are working against the NCR. Continuing to do so will eventually lock you out of being able to work with them. Completing quests for Mr. House, Yes Man or the Legion will cause "Don't Tread on the Bear" to trigger; when the quest is "failed" it means you no longer have the option of taking quests for the NCR.

It is not possible to please both House and the NCR. You ultimately have to choose between the NCR, the Legion, House, or Independence (Yes Man) - if you play your cards right, you can play the factions against each other for a long time, but eventually you will have to pick a side.

(SPOILER):
Specifically, you will have kill or disable Mr. House unless you side with him - the Legion asks you to do this right away, but the NCR will eventually do the same, and House will have to be offline so you can upload Yes Man if you're going for Independence.

I would definitely download the DLC before completing the game. Dead Money and Old World Blues have IMO some of the best writing in the entire game. The level cap makes you ridiculously overpowered, but it's still great fun to go through the DLC. They also add some amazing perks and traits that are missing from the vanilla game. If you can get the Gun Runners Arsenal, it's also worth another playthrough with the improved and unique weapons.
 
Yeah, that bears special mention. I'm normally against weapon packs, and especially so in the case of games that are ostensibly supposed to be RPGs, but Gun Runner's Arsenal is worth the cost of entry. The Mad Bomber perk is basically an entire new play style on its own. Some of the weapons fill useful niches, too, even if there are a fair number that are superfluous or overpowered.
 
I prefer my NV totally vanilla, but I am likely in a minority there :D
I found gun-runners to merely clutter up my vendors inventories, and the only weapon I really liked from that pack, turned out to allready exist in the game, as a unique weapon (no spoilurz! ;D)
 
zegh8578 said:
I prefer my NV totally vanilla, but I am likely in a minority there :D
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After playing with all DLCs installed, I don't think I can go back to vanilla NV. :)

zegh8578 said:
I found gun-runners to merely clutter up my vendors inventories, and the only weapon I really liked from that pack, turned out to allready exist in the game, as a unique weapon (no spoilurz! ;D)
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Now I'm curious what your favorite GRA weapon is.

I agree that GRA can clutter merchant inventories, but I have this problem with the game's economy overall. I think it's simply unrealistic for merchants to be wandering around the Mojave, hauling outrageously expensive ammo for exotic weapons. They definitely could have handled the distribution and pricing of some the weapons better.
 
Kilgore Trout said:
Now I'm curious what your favorite GRA weapon is.

I agree that GRA can clutter merchant inventories, but I have this problem with the game's economy overall. I think it's simply unrealistic for merchants to be wandering around the Mojave, hauling outrageously expensive ammo for exotic weapons. They definitely could have handled the distribution and pricing of some the weapons better.
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I'm sure I'm not the only very particular player around here, but tbh, seeing "(GRA)" all over the place was enough to bug me :D

And as for the weapon, I'll spoiler-tag it, cus I know for a fact some players take this stuff quite seriously :D
This Machine/Battle rifle(?) the M1 Garand dude! Bang-bang-bang-pling! Also, it carries one helluva punch! Far into the game I earned it from NCR, and it was as if my lethality tripled!
 
Economy issues have asked for a heaping helping of suspended disbelief since day one of the series, and GRA (FNV in general) certainly doesn't do much to change that. The MST Mantra has served me in good stead there since at least the middle of Fallout 2.

I do wish it was a little more common to find 9mm and Varmint Rifle parts in the store in Goodsprings and fewer GRA upgrades for guns I'm not going to find or use for at least five or six levels, and that I could find someone with a couple dozen bullets for my Cowboy Repeater rather than six of them and ten or fifteen GRA fire-breathing flechette knockout shotgun grenades, though.

(And yeah, the ubiquitous (GRA) was pretty clunky, and a bit of a ripoff when you had a non-GRA version of the weapon in question that couldn't apply GRA upgrades. I know Sawyer's Mod fixed this, but not everyone is going to own the neato-completo version of the game.)
 
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zegh8578 said:
And as for the weapon, I'll spoiler-tag it, cus I know for a fact some players take this stuff quite seriously :grin:
This Machine/Battle rifle(?) the M1 Garand dude! Bang-bang-bang-pling! Also, it carries one helluva punch! Far into the game I earned it from NCR, and it was as if my lethality tripled!
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Ah, I prefer
The Bozar
myself, although admittedly, I tend to find myself using more unique weapons than GRA weapons at the end of the day.

Yamu said:
The MST Mantra has served me in good stead there since at least the middle of Fallout 2.
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That's always good to keep in mind when playing games. :grin:

Yamu said:
I do wish it was a little more common to find 9mm and Varmint Rifle parts in the store in Goodsprings and fewer GRA upgrades for guns I'm not going to find or use for at least five or six levels, and that I could find someone with a couple dozen bullets for my Cowboy Repeater rather than six of them and ten or fifteen GRA fire-breathing flechette knockout shotgun grenades, though.
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Exactly - by the time mods for early weapons are readily available, the player has probably moved on to more impressive death dealing instruments. And none of my Couriers have ever used the crazy GRA shotgun and grenade rifle ammunition.
 
Also with the PS3, you can get the trophies, than reload your previous save and your trophy will still be there.
 
On the DLC front, I recently bit the bullet and acquired them, so here are my thoughts:

Gun Runner's Arsenal:
This is fun. The new weapons are expensive as hell, but worth it. I love my customised Anti-Materiel Rifle and all the new hand-load ammunition, so this is definitely worth having.

Dead Money:
Cannot recommend. It takes your gear away, forces you into a tedius "survival horror" setting, and you can't even revisit once completed. The only reason to play this is if you really need a cash boost, as you can stockpile stupid amounts of PreWar Money and some Gold Bars. Otherwise, don't bother.

Honest Hearts:
This is better, but I'm afraid Dances with Yao Guai didn't win me over. The new weaponry it unlocks is pretty sweet, but by the time you play it you've likely advanced so far that it's not worth using any of it. Good effort, but ultimately a waste of time save for acquiring some new cosmetic elements, and the odd perk.

Old World Blues:
By the end, Old World Blues had me laughing so hard I had to leave the room. This is bat-shit crazy from the get-go, with some tasty new toys and a brand new home base. It's challenging even for high level characters, has lots of quests to do and places to explore, and it wears its B-movie pulp sci-fi styling proudly. If you like your Fallout games "serious" then this will likely rub you the wrong way. For those of us who feel Wacky Wasteland is essential, it's a must-play. Just keep an eye on the toaster...

Lonesome Road:
Not done much, but my impressions so far are A) it's hard, and B) I want to know how it ends. That's a lot more than I can say for Dead Money! Based on 1-2 hours of play, I think this one's a keeper.
 
John McDonnell said:
Dead Money: Cannot recommend. It takes your gear away, forces you into a tedius "survival horror" setting, and you can't even revisit once completed.
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I think Dead Money is probably the most divisive of the DLCs: people either love it or hate it. Personally, I liked the challenge of having your gear stripped and being forced to rely on your skills alone, and I found the survival horror style of gameplay to be a nice break from the Mojave proper.

And in terms of loot, I never bother with gold bars or the pre-war money; the real loot is being able to use Sierra Madre casino chips to manufacture an endless supply of weapon repair kits, doctor's bags, stimpaks, and .308 and .357 rounds from the vending machine in the bunker. There's also the holorifle, the assassin suit, and the reinforced sierra madre armor - the latter boasting the highest DT of any light armor in the entire game. The Light Touch perk is also a must have for any light-armor based build.

Most of all though I enjoyed Dead Money's writing and characters. I liked discovering the story behind the Sierra Madre, being forced to work together with untrusting and untrustworthy companions, out-smarting Elijah, etc.
 
I too like having my gear removed, and sometimes I'll do it myself, for roleplay purposes (also to lighten my inventory in case of massive looting in a "sealed off" new environment), it was one of the things I liked about the ol "Pitt", and hoped would remain so for much of it's playthrough (which it obviously didn't :D)
 
I can see the reasons one might have for not liking Dead Money, but I'm mostly with zegh and Mr. Trout here. The potential loot and bonuses from a thorough playthrough aren't anything to scoff at, but the experience itself is far more rewarding. The characterization and (for the most part) the voice acting in Dead Money are some of the best in the game, and for me the writing sets the standard of how a questline dealing heavily with pre-war figures and events should be handled.

As much as one could categorize the setting as survival horror, it's also undeniably a part of Fallout's postwar wasteland (if a distinctive one), and it does a great job on a lot of wasteland gameplay elements that F3 and NV tend to underperform on or simply ignore: it takes you out of your element. It makes you feel hunted and unsafe, perhaps even by your companions. It forces you to scrounge to survive, and to rely on yourself more than your goodies.

How they strip you of your gear at the beginning does feel a bit cheap, but I can get over that. Games are about the experience they deliver, and it was necessary to the experience-- and they at least made more than a flimsy pretense of justifying it in the story. Likewise, like Mr. McDonnel said, there seems to be little reason not to let you return (I think I remember them saying at the time that it had something to do with time constraints and balance issues, but they probably would have realized in hindsight that it wasn't a concern).

(As far as loot-- as someone who frequently plays as a melee character, being able to receive the Elijah's Ramblings perk is pretty big, even if you always feel like a jerk for doing it.)
 
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